Hidden Truths (Truths and Lies 1)

“Let me grab us a towel,” I tell him, turning the water off. I find a couple towels under his sink and snag them. I hand one to him and keep one for myself. Without caring that I’m in the room, he pushes his briefs down and wraps his towel around his waist. Diverting my eyes, I say, “I’m going to get these wet clothes off. Can I borrow some clothes?”

“Yeah.” He nods once and steps out. “I’ll leave them for you on the bed.”

After stripping out of my wet clothes and wringing them out in the sink, I wrap the towel around me and then walk into Aris’s room. He’s in there, still in his towel. He’s sitting on the edge of his bed with his head bowed and his face in his hands. I’ve never felt so helpless.

“Hey.” I step in front of him, and he lifts his head slightly. “I don’t know what to say,” I admit. “Do you want me to take you to the hospital? I think that’s where Kostas is…”

Aris’s eyes bulge out of their sockets and then form into thin slits. “He killed her,” he hisses. Of course he blames his father. I don’t blame him. Everything she said. She might as well have handed Ezio the gun. “No, I don’t want to go to the fucking hospital, and you shouldn’t either.” He glares at me, and his hands grip my forearms.

“It should’ve been him, not her,” he sneers. “He should be fucking dead.”

“I know,” I agree. “I hate this for you.” My cell phone rings out somewhere in the villa. “Let me go grab that. It could be Kostas.”

“Kostas?” Aris spits. “Who fucking cares?” We’re both silent for a minute and then Aris says, “You’re not thinking of still marrying him, are you?” He stands from the bed, now towering over me.

“It’s…it’s not up to me,” I tell him. He knows this. He knows I’m being forced. He was there when my fate was sealed.

“That was before!” he roars. “Everything has fucking changed.” He stalks toward me and I back up, my lower back hitting the edge of the dresser. I wince in pain. “You can’t marry him, Talia! Didn’t you hear my mother’s dying wishes? To you? To me? To Kostas?”

“I know.” I nod emphatically. He’s starting to scare me. His chest is heaving in anger, and I’m trapped between him and the dresser. My phone continues to ring, but I can’t answer it because it’s in the other room. “I know what she said,” I tell him softly, hoping to calm him. “And I want to give her what she asked. But in order to do that, I’m going to have to talk to Kostas. That might be him calling.”

Aris flinches at Kostas’s name. “He’s not going to listen. He always does what our father says. He’s going to make you marry him. And then my father will get what he wanted. You can’t marry him. You can’t.” He shakes his head. His eyes bore into mine, and he almost appears to be possessed. My hands shake at my sides. I need to figure a way to get to my phone, or get out of here. Something’s not right. Something is off.

“I understand,” I say to Aris to placate him, “I will—”

Aris cuts me off. “No, there’s nothing you can do. There’s only one way to stop Kostas. There’s only one reason he would call off this wedding.” His eyes rake down my body, stopping when they get to the knot holding my towel together. Reaching forward, he tugs on it enough to loosen it, but not enough to make it fall. “If you’re tainted…then he won’t want you, and my dad won’t get his way.”

“Then I’m as good as dead too,” I choke out, pushing at his chest. “You know that.”

Another sob makes his entire body shake. “Fuck, Talia, I’m sorry.”

Relaxing in his arms, I gently hug him. “It’s okay.”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” he murmurs, his breath hot against my ear. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

A shiver runs down my spine when his lips latch onto the side of my neck. He sucks on my flesh in a reverent way. My towel slides down, exposing my breasts.

“Aris,” I whisper. “Aris, stop.”

He pulls away enough to look me right in the eye. His are bloodshot from crying and drinking. Before I can grab the towel, his lips crash to mine in a demanding kiss. I abandon trying to keep the towel on in an effort to push him away. Turning my head, I manage to break the kiss.

“Aris,” I whimper. “Please—”

His grip finds my jaw as he guides my face back to his, attacking my lips once more and silencing me. As he kisses me, all I can think about is how bad this is. If Kostas finds out his brother was kissing me, it’s not going to end well for me.